Dealing with Poor Performance
Recent research in business management demonstrates the
over riding importance of positive work relationships in
building a profitable company. Business schools which have
historically focused on the task dimensions of leadership
are beginning to get the message and are putting more
emphasis on building interpersonal skills in future
managers. This approach is coming to be known as
"relationship-leadership."
The relationship-leadership approach to managing people
differs from traditional management practices in many
subtle ways. To demonstrate the difference, we will look
at an alternative way of dealing with an employee's poor
perform-ance.
Let's start with a story. Tom just joined the organization
as a salesman. He comes to the organization with an
out-standing track record in technical sales. However, his
new company sells investment services to very wealthy
people. Selling a service is quite different from selling
a tangible product. As a result, he will have to develop
some new sales skills. Tom is regarded as an exceptional
sales talent, so both Tom and his boss are confident he
will be successful.
Tami has been with the company several years, always
performed well and is regarded as a talented, loyal
employee. She was recently promoted into a highly
technical position reporting to a manager who has been with
the organization for only two months. Tami is looking to
her boss for direction on what she should be doing but her
new boss is still trying to figure out the "lay of the
land."
After only four weeks, it is clear that both Tom and Tami
are failing in their new jobs. If they don't quickly make
dra-matic improvement, the Senior Vice President who their
managers report to will insist that they be removed from
their positions. Their managers are in a bind. It is a
tight labor market; neither employee can easily be replaced.
If you were Tom's or Tami's manager, how would you handle
these two situations? How would you drive home the
message, "Your job is on the line; if you don't immediately
improve your performance, I can't help you. You'll be
his-tory."
Traditionally, improving performance involves observing an
individual's performance and working on that employee to
‘fix' the behavior. The focus is on correcting weaknesses.
The traditional process for ‘fixing' behavior is:
1.Get the employee to acknowledge that the undesired
behavior exists.
2.Create an understanding of the reason why such behavior
is unacceptable.
3.Agree that it is the employee's responsibility to change
the behavior.
This method seldom works because it is based upon coercion.
No permanent, positive change ever happens when an
employee feels threatened or forced to change. Fear never
creates a positive leaning environment.
The relationship-leadership approach focuses on 1) the
employees understanding of why they are not meeting
expecta-tions, and 2) the manager and employee work
together to remedy the problem. Some common reasons for an
employee not performing are:
1.Not understanding what is expected and why (a
communications issue).
2.Not having the necessary talent, cognitive ability,
required educational tools, or Emotional Intelligence
(square peg, round hole syndrome).
3.Not having the skills or knowledge required to meet the
expectations (a training issue).
4.Not wanting to do the task as expected because: Values or
interests different than those required by the job, or
fear. Fear of failure, success, rejection or abandonment.
In the relationship-leadership approach, the manager and
employee have a courageous conversation, an open discussion
as to what is really going on. From this honesty and
openness the right solution appears. Reconciliation as
well as resolution occurs.
Our two examples above are real clients. In Tom's
situation, he needed some help learning new sales skills
but had been afraid to ask for help. He feared he would be
labeled as "incompetent." In Tami's situation, she did not
really understand what was expected of her. Her
inexperienced boss recognized his limitations to guide her
development in mastering the skills required for success in
her new position. He got her the help she needed from
another department. In the end, both became successful
performers.
Not all situations work out so nicely. However, if the
boss has invested the time and energy to get to know the
employee as an individual, they can have an open and honest
dialogue in which the "right" answer will appear. The
traditional management approach focuses on the employee
fixing a "weakness". The relationship-leadership approach
looks below the surface to determine what is really going
on and then builds on the employee's talents and strengths.
----------------------------------------------------
Bill Shirley helps organizations “get the right people on
the bus and in the right seats.” Through his
Relationship-Leadership coaching approach, leaders create
an organization populated with enthusiastically engaged,
highly productive employees. http://www.insearchofeagles.com
